The 100 Greatest Broadway Songs - Part XII

THE 100 GREATEST BROADWAY SONGS

• 100
• 99-98
• 97-95
• 94-91
• 90-86
• 85-80
• 79-73
• 72-65
• 64-56
• 55-46
• 45-37

SONG #36

"Aquarius"

from Hair

Music by Galt McDermott

Lyrics by James Rado & Gerome Ragni

sung by Dionne & Company

What better way to introduce audiences to the "hippie" movement than to sing a funky song about "mystic crystals" and "moons in the seventh house."  This song has become an anthem  not just for the "hippie" movement, but for the rock Musical that was introduced to Broadway with Hair and skyrocketed to popularity throughout the 1970s.  It was a new kind of Musical that no one before had ever seen (though that dancing horse might be a bit much!).

SONG #35

"Soliloquy"

from Carousel

Music by Richard Rodgers

Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

sung by Billy Bigelow

Billy Bigelow is yet another one of Oscar Hammerstein II's favorite characters.  I think Hammerstein was drawn to flawed people, anti-heroes and tragic figures.  Those are the kind of characters that make the best drama (i.e. Oedipus, Hamlet, Doctor Faustus, etc.).  For Hammerstein, Billy Bigelow was no different than those classic dramatic characters.  That is probably why he cleverly titled his big solo number (where Billy runs the gamut of emotions and thoughts over the prospect of his impending child) a "Soliloquy."  It is calculated to state Billy's dreams; yet, at the same time, move the plot forward (which is what the Hammerstein book songs are supposed to do!).

SONG #34

"Tradition"

from Fiddler On the Roof

Music by Jerry Bock

Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick

sung by Tevye & Company

When Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick and librettist Joseph Stein brought their Musical adaptation of Sholem Aleichem's stories to producer Harold Prince, they originally wanted Prince to direct it.  He felt that he wasn't the right director for it and suggested Jerome Robbins.  Robbins agreed as long as Prince produced the show.  And Robbins' biggest contribution was this groundbreaking opening number.  He wanted a number that encompassed what the theme and the characters are all about.  So Bock and Harnick wrote "Tradition," which was a number that introduced Tevye and all of his fellow villagers of Anatevka.  This song, according to all involved, helped to make the show universal and take it to a new level (something Robbins was no stranger to, as you will see!).

SONG #33

"Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered"

from Pal Joey

Music by Richard Rodgers

Lyrics by Lorenz Hart

sung by Vera Simpson

Pal Joey has two great distinctions in regards to the partnership of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.  First, it is the team's most notable of their shows (with its jazzy score and amoral characters).  Second, it was the last original show the pair wrote together as Lorenz Hart was suffering from the effects of his years of alcoholism (Rodgers would go on to find another writing partner!).  But from Pal Joey, this beautiful and quite lyrical number has become a jazz standard that has been recorded by everyone from Ella Fitzgerald to Frank Sinatra to Barbra Streisand (above).

SONG #32

"America"

from West Side Story

Music by Leonard Bernstein

Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

sung by Anita, Rosalia & Shark Girls

This is the story of how two great choreographers melded their methods together to create a fantastic show-stopping number.  When Jerome Robbins was about to go into rehearsals for West Side Story, he threatened to quit.  Now, knowing Robbins, this alone is not unusual; however, co-producer Harold Prince was not pleased.  What they discovered is that Robbins wanted help in creating the choreography for what he wanted to be his masterpiece.  So he and Prince hired former dancer and newly minted choreographer Peter Gennaro to assist Robbins and create most of the choreography for the Puerto Rican Shark gang (Robbins would focus on directing the show, supervising Gennaro and creating the dances for the Jets).  The first number Gennaro worked on was this song that had the character of Anita (originally played by the phenomenal Chita Rivera) singing about the joys of being in the U.S.  Gennaro's steps wowed the creative team, but (according to Stephen Sondheim) the staging wasn't quite right.  So Robbins stepped in and re-worked it with Gennaro.  The next day, the team was doubly wowed by the changes and Chita Rivera went on to stop the show every night!

SONG #31

"Don't Cry For Me Argentina"

from Evita

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Lyrics by Tim Rice

sung by Eva Peron

When Tim Rice conceived the idea of creating a Musical about the wife of Argentinian President Juan Peron, he wanted Eva to have a song that could serve both as a speech to the people of Argentina and to the audience itself.  He and Lloyd Webber created this song that is sung on the balcony of the Casa Rosada at the beginning of the second act (after Peron has been elected President).  The song became the centerpiece of the original Evita concept album and was a hit single for original singer Julie Covington.  Once director Harold Prince was staging the number for the original London production, he told original star Elaine Paige that he didn't want her to worry about the melody.  He wanted her to think of the song as a political statement that Eva is giving to the people and to stare down the crowd (and the audience!) as you defiantly sing the song at them.  And believe me, no one stares down a crowd like original Broadway star Patti LuPone (above)!

SONG #30

"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going"

from Dreamgirls

Music by Henry Krieger

Lyrics by Tom Eyen

sung by Effie Melody White

From one diva anthem to another, this song is most definitely the biggest hit from this smash Musical about a black girl group in the 1960s trying to crossover from the R&B world to the Pop world.  The character of Effie Melody White, loosely based on the late Supreme Florence Ballard, is a diva with an attitude that is driving everyone crazy.  And because of her antics, she gets dismissed from the group (much like Ballard was let go from The Supremes at the height of their popularity).  But because she is in love with the slick manager and she doesn't want to see her dreams end, she defiantly stands there and sings this emotionally soulful ballad.  Whether it is original Broadway star Jennifer Holliday (above) or Oscar-winning film star Jennifer Hudson, this song really knows how to move an audience.

SONG #29

"I Believe In You"

from How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying

Music & Lyrics by Frank Loesser

sung by J. Pierrepont Finch

When writing the score for the adaptation of Shepard Mead's satirical novel, Frank Loesser felt that the lead character of Finch (with his sly and conniving ways!) needed a love ballad...with himself.  Because Finch is ultimately selfish and self-serving, Loesser wanted the "11 o'clock number" to be a song that Finch sings to himself not just to pick himself up, but to compliment himself.  The resulting song is this delightful song that is both hilarious (because of the circumstances!) and sweet (because of the sentiment!).  It also makes the audience root more for Finch as he is surrounded by the inept corporate bigwigs that want to take him down!

In the next post, we will be heading into the Top 25 of the Greatest Broadway Songs with more from Rodgers & Hammerstein, Kander & Ebb and the highest ranking song with both Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

The 100 Greatest Broadway Songs - Part XI

THE 100 GREATEST BROADWAY SONGS

• 100
• 99-98
• 97-95
• 94-91
• 90-86
• 85-80
• 79-73
• 72-65
• 64-56
• 55-46

SONG #45

"Before the Parade Passes By"

from Hello, Dolly!

Music & Lyrics by Jerry Herman

sung by Dolly Gallagher Levi & Company

So many Musicals of the "Golden Era" had problems during their creative process...and Hello, Dolly! was certainly no different.  Director-choreographer Gower Champion was having trouble with casting certain roles and staging several numbers; Composer-lyricist Jerry Herman was writing and re-writing songs (and throwing out some!); And producer David Merrick was being his usual overwhelming self and making demands of everyone from Champion to Herman to even star Carol Channing!   One of the problems was the end of the first act.  The song they had was not working out-of-town and Herman decided to sit down late one night and just compose a new one.  This was what he came up with and, according to him, it saved the show.  The build up of the number and Gower Champion's inventive staging helped keep the energy of the show at its height leading into the second act where we know it became more iconic (as you will see later in this list!).

SONG #44

"I Get a Kick Out Of You"

from Anything Goes

Music & Lyrics by Cole Porter

sung by Reno Sweeney

One of Cole Porter's biggest hit songs is this one that was introduced by Ethel Merman in the 1934 Musical Anything Goes.  Once again, Porter plays with slightly "bluer" lyrics as the character of Reno Sweeney sings about champagne, cocaine and flying in a plane.  But none of those "fads" compare to her friend Billy Lawlor, who she thinks is just "fabulous."  The song has been recorded by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Ella Fitzgerald; And has been parodied on Sesame Street and (most famously) in Mel Brooks' 1974 brilliant comedy Blazing Saddles.

SONG #43

"If My Friends Could See Me Now"

from Sweet Charity

Music by Cy Coleman

Lyrics by Dorothy Fields

sung by Charity Hope Valentine

Sweet Charity was the Musical version of Italian director Federico Fellini's 1957 film Nights of Cabiria.  With a libretto by the great Neil Simon, director Bob Fosse wanted to insure that Charity is one of the most hapless heroines in Musical history.  And in this song, which became the centerpiece of the show, Charity thinks she's hit the big time just by hanging out with a famous Italian movie star.  She ponders what her friends would do "if they could see" her at that very moment.  The Fellini-esque irony is that ultimately her great night is just about as pathetic as her life has been up to that point.  But in the moment, she doesn't care. Combining Bob Fosse's ingenious choreography with Gwen Verdon's fabulous performance is what made this song so legendary (in the film version, the fantastic Shirley MacLaine put her own stamp on the number). The song was revived in the 1980s when Carnival Cruise Lines used the tune in their commercials sung by talk show host Kathie Lee Gifford.

SONG #42

"Broadway Baby"

from Follies

Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

sung by Hattie Walker

For those of you who read this blog, you had to know that this song would be on here.  Some of you might have thought it would have been higher!  But as the late Dorothy Loudon says in her performance of the song above, Stephen Sondheim probably didn't know what he had when he wrote this tune that has now become an anthem for the performer dying to make it on the Great White Way.

SONG #41

"I Got Rhythm"

from Girl Crazy

Music by George Gershwin

Lyrics by Ira Gershwin

sung by Kate Fothergill

Yet another song that was introduced to the world by the legendary Ethel Merman.  In 1930, George and Ira Gershwin were composing the quaint Musical Girl Crazy for writer Guy Bolton.  To show off his jazzy score, George Gershwin hired several local jazz artists to play in the orchestra pit (including Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Gene Krupa and Benny Goodman!).  He wrote this song for the supporting character of Kate (played by Merman) to sing at the end of the first act.  With this song, Merman became an overnight sensation and, according to legend, was told by Gershwin himself to "never take a singing lesson!"  Thanks to all the jazz legends in the pit, this song was covered in all the clubs by all the great artists.  Some of the more familiar versions of the song include above in the 1951 MGM Oscar-winner An American In Paris and a delightful twist on the song by the hilarious Muppets.

SONG #40

"All I Ask Of You"

from The Phantom Of the Opera

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Lyrics by Charles Hart & Richard Stilgoe

sung by Christine Daaé & Raoul

The Phantom Of the Opera is pretty much considered one of the most romantic Musicals in Broadway history and this song is one of the biggest reasons.  Lyricist Richard Stilgoe was having great difficulty making this song, which was to appear towards the end of the first act, work properly.  Every set of lyrics he wrote for it fell flat with composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and director Harold Prince.  So, with the help of producer Cameron Mackintosh, Lloyd Webber found help from an unknown songwriter named Charles Hart.  His lyrics, especially for this song, brought the Musical up to a new romantic level that it wasn't at before.  The song has become a personal favorite of Lloyd Webber, Pirince and Mackintosh.  It even has become one of the most popular songs to be sung at weddings!

SONG #39

"Consider Yourself"

from Oliver!

Music & Lyrics by Lionel Bart

sung by The Artful Dodger, Oliver Twist & Company

When Lionel Bart was writing his adaptation of Charles Dickens' massive novel, he needed a number that would introduce The Artful Dodger and lure Oliver right into his world.  Bart's solution was to write a song that was very similar to the classic British Music Hall.  A song that makes everyone want to stand up and sing along.  Anytime you hear it, you want to do exactly what it says: "Consider Yourself at Home!"  The song is the show's "unofficial" anthem and is the highlight of every production (especially the 1968 movie version, above!).

SONG #38

"Being Alive"

from Company

Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

sung by Bobby & Company

As I said before, Stephen Sondheim has a way of writing a song in each of his shows that hits at its very themes.  In Company, lead character Bobby spends the whole show finding out about marriage, relationships and connectivity.  At the end of the show, he asks the question: "What do you get?"  What follows is one of Sondheim's most poignant songs that basically says what Bobby (and by extension, everyone) wants in life, which is to have that connection with someone that makes one feel "alive."  Being one of Sondheim's most amazing songs, it has been performed by several actors (including original star Dean Jones, revival star Raul Esparza and concert star Neil Patrick Harris) and is always well-received by audiences.

SONG #37

"Till There Was You"

from The Music Man

Music & Lyrics by Meredith Wilson

sung by Marian Paroo & Professor Harold Hill

Like "All I Ask Of You" above, this is yet another highly romantic song that is filled with beautiful imagery.  Who doesn't want to hear that they are the reason that someone finally sees all the possibilities in life?  In The Music Man, stuffy librarian Marian Paroo spends most of the show trying to prove that the sly Professor Harold Hill is exactly what he is: a con man.  However, when she begins to see the effect his "con" is having on the town of River City, Iowa, she begins to see him in a new light.  She realizes that the more she knows about him, the more she loves him.  And he falls right back in love with her, which is the typical kind of Musical-Comedy romance!

Tomorrow, I will reveal a few more the Greatest Broadway Songs as we slide into the Top 30 with songs from a few more landmark shows.

The 100 Greatest Broadway Songs - Part X

THE 100 GREATEST BROADWAY SONGS

• 100
• 99-98
• 97-95
• 94-91
• 90-86
• 85-80
• 79-73
• 72-65
• 64-56

SONG #55

"I, Don Quixote (Man of La Mancha)"

from Man of La Mancha

Music by Mitch Leigh

Lyrics by Joe Darion

sung by Don Quixote and Sancho Panza

The 1960s was full of new and groundbreaking staging techniques that were very different from the traditional styles of previous Broadway directors and choreographers.  Man of La Mancha had some of those different staging techniques.  Director Albert Marre insisted on staging the show in a Black Box Theatre and utilizing limited sets.  He wanted the atmosphere to resemble a small prison cell that the lead character, Miguel de Cervantes, is thrust into with his fellow inmates of the Spanish Inquisition.  In this cell, Cervantes re-enacts his great work about the crazed man who thinks of himself as a knight errant named Don Quixote de La Mancha.  And this song introduces Quixote's world to everyone with its passionate and thrilling music.

SONG #54

"Mame"

from Mame

Music & Lyrics by Jerry Herman

sung by Beauregarde Jackson Pickett Burnside & Company

In the same season as Man of La Mancha, this hit Musical was also a smash hit...and it could not have been more different.  Jerry Herman was no stranger to a female-led Musical with a high-strutting chorus-filled title number (his more popular one shall appear later on this list!) and this one was just as popular as his previous one.  With both of Jerry Herman's shows being huge successes in the late 1960s, they served as reminders that the traditional-styled Musicals were still quite popular with audiences despite the darker and more serious shows (i.e. Fiddler On the Roof, Man of La Mancha, Cabaret, Hair, etc.) arriving on Broadway and making a splash.

SONG #53

"Whatever Lola Wants (Lola Gets)"

from Damn Yankees

Music & Lyrics by Richard Adler & Jerry Ross

sung by Lola

Gwen Verdon began her enigmatic career as a dancer for the legendary Jack Cole and eventually became his assistant.  Soon she was courted to Broadway where she wowed audiences with her featured role in Cole Porter's 1953 hit Can-Can.  She quickly became a sought after actress and dancer.  She also came to the attention of choreographer Bob Fosse, who fell instantly in love with her.  She became his muse and was thrilled to work with her for the first time on George Abbott's hit baseball-themed Musical Damn Yankees.  This number became the show's most popular song thanks very much to the combination of Verdon's sensual performance and Fosse's sexy choreography.  The two went on to make some of the most influential shows in Broadway history together (including Sweet Charity and Chicago!).

SONG #52

"I Don't Know How To Love Him"

from Jesus Christ Superstar

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Lyrics by Tim Rice

sung by Mary Magdalene

When Tim Rice wanted to create a solo number for the character of Mary Magdalene for their concept recording Jesus Christ Superstar, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber recycled a tune he had written earlier titled "Kansas Morning."  It was very much based on the compositions of Mendelssohn and Lloyd Webber felt that the melody would fit perfectly with a possible love ballad.  Tim Rice wrote new lyrics, re-titled it "I Don't Know How To Love Him" and cast a young pop singer named Yvonne Elliman in the role of Mary Magdalene for the recording.  The song became a critically acclaimed emotional centerpiece of the album and climbed its way up the Billboard Charts as Elliman portrayed the role in the Broadway production of the show.  It was also covered by Helen Reddy (a version which became more popular as the show opened on Broadway) and Petula Clark (a version which was released in the UK at the same time as Elliman's version).  Though there have been several versions, Elliman's original is considered the most exquisite (especially as she repeated it both on Broadway and in the 1973 film version above).

SONG #51

"Edelweiss"

from The Sound of Music

Music by Richard Rodgers

Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

sung by Captain Georg Von Trapp

While Rodgers and Hammerstein were writing The Sound of Music, they realized that the character of Captain Von Trapp was not generating enough sympathy and they new that the real Von Trapp had to be a man of conviction and principle.  So, while the show was out of town in Boston, Richard Rodgers began writing a simple waltz-like melody that could be played on the guitar (to showcase the Musical skills of Theodore Bikel, who originated the role of the Captain) and Oscar Hammerstein II utilized the theme of the Austrian flower, the Edelweiss, to serve as the lyrics.  The song became so beloved that audience members actually believed it was an Austrian national song.  It also became a haunting theme, as it was the last song that Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II ever wrote together.  For nine months after The Sound of Music opened on Broadway, Oscar Hammerstein II (the man who had changed the face of American Musical Theatre with shows like Show Boat and Oklahoma!) lost his life to stomach cancer.  He has since lived on in his lyrics and librettos.

SONG #50

"The Ballad of Mack the Knife"

from The Threepenny Opera

Music by Kurt Weill

Original Lyrics by Burtold Brecht; English adaptation by Marc Blitzstein

sung by The Street Singer

German composer Kurt Weill left his home country when Adolf Hitler's Third Reich came to power, but before that Weill (along with playwright Burtold Brecht) had composed several successful German operettas that caught the attention of producers throughout Europe and even in the U.S.  When Weill made it to Broadway, he was very interested in doing English adaptations of his German hits.  After he died in 1950, author Marc Blitzstein made it his mission to adapt his 1928 operetta Die Dreigroschenoper (also known as The Threepenny Opera).  He even cast Weill's widow, Lotte Lenya, in her original role of Jenny Diver.  The show was produced Off-Broadway at the Theater De Lys in Greenwich Village (now known as the Lucille Lortel Theatre).  The opening song, "The Ballad of Mack the Knife," became the show's most recognizable and even became a pop hit when singers like Louis Armstrong and Bobby Darin recorded jazzier versions that soared to the top of the charts.

SONG #49

"Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend"

from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Music by Jule Styne

Lyrics by Leo Robin

sung by Lorelai Lee & Company

Anita Loos' comic novel Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was a huge hit when it was published in 1925.  Almost 25 years later, she was approached about adapting the novel into a Musical.  The show had a score by composer Jule Styne (with help from lyricist Leo Robin) and starred a young Carol Channing in the central role of Lorelai Lee.  Carol Channing's performance of this second act show-stopper became quite popular in the early 1950s...that is until 1953 the film version.  For the film, 20th Century Fox cast their bombshell star Marilyn Monroe in the role of Lorelai and this number became the centerpiece of the film (thanks to choreographer Jack Cole!).  Monroe's performance of this song has become so iconic that it has been parodied or honored by everyone from Madonna to Beyonce to Kylie Minogue to Christina Aguilera to even Nicole Kidman (in Baz Luhrmann's hit film Moulin Rouge!).

SONG #48

"Superstar"

from Jesus Christ Superstar

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Lyrics by Tim Rice

sung by Judas Iscariot & Company

Yet another song from Jesus Christ Superstar and (this time) it's the title number!  Record producer Robert Stigwood released this song as the only single from the original 1970 concept album (performed on the record by British singer Murray Head).  The song became a #1 hit on both sides of the Atlantic and helped the album sky-rocket to the top of the charts.  On Broadway, the song was performed by Ben Vereen and became a show-stopper in Tom O'Horgan's staging.  Since then, it has become the most anticipated song in the show and Andrew Lloyd Webber's majestic theme music is constantly repeated throughout the Musical.

SONG #47

"Put On a Happy Face"

from Bye Bye Birdie

Music by Charles Strouse

Lyrics by Lee Adams

sung by Albert Petersen

Composing team Charles Strouse and Lee Adams wanted to be a successful Broadway team like Rodgers and Hammerstein.  Their first Musical, Bye Bye Birdie, became an instant hit in the 1960 season and is highly considered the precursor to the rock Musicals of the late 1960s and 1970s.  But within the show that is full of teenagers singing pop-like tunes and an Elvis Presley-like icon shaking his hips, Strouse and Adams wrote this quaint little tune that became an anthem for optimism in a time where things were changing.  The song was initially introduced by Dick Van Dyke's leading character (trying to cheer up a sad fan of Conrad Birdie!) and had inventive tap-dancing staged by the great Gower Champion.  Charles Strouse has jokingly said that it was just a simple tune that has since paid for his Uptown Manhattan apartment!

SONG #46

"Brotherhood of Man"

from How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying

Music & Lyrics by Frank Loesser

sung by J. Pierrepont Finch, Wally Womper, Miss Jones & Company

Composer Frank Loesser knew everything about music and loved all kinds (from classical to pop!).  For the finale number of his 1961 smash hit How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, Loesser wanted the lead character of J. Pierrepont Finch to "wile" his way out of the trouble he is in by not just charming the Chairman of the Board, but by inspiring him.  He wanted Finch to grab Wally Womper's attention by practically leading a Gospel revival meeting.  With "Brotherhood of Man," Finch leads the company in a hand-clapping inspirational finale that is always a show-stopper in every production.  Whether it is performed by Robert Morse (in the original 1961 Broadway and the 1966 film), Matthew Broderick (in the 1995 revival, with the fantastic Lillias White as Miss Jones!) or Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe (in the 2011 revival, shown above).

In the next post, we will wade our way into the Top 40 of the Greatest Broadway Songs of All-Time (where you will see more from Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cole Porter and The Gershwins!).

The 100 Greatest Broadway Songs - Part IX

THE 100 GREATEST BROADWAY SONGS

• 100
• 99-98
• 97-95
• 94-91
• 90-86
• 85-80
• 79-73
• 72-65

SONG #64

"Cabaret"

from Cabaret

Music by John Kander

Lyrics by Fred Ebb

sung by Sally Bowles

When John Kander and Fred Ebb were writing their Musical version of Christopher Isherwood's Berlin Stories, they were tailoring the role of Sally Bowles for the young Liza Minnelli (who had just won a Tony for their show Flora, The Red Menace).  However, producer-director Harold Prince, who was a great fan of Liza's, felt that she was too young to play such an emotionally charged role (she was only 19 at the time they were developing the show!).  Though she wasn't cast in the production, that didn't stop Kander and Ebb from writing the title number in a way that was very similar to Liza's (and her mother Judy Garland's!) style.  So when Bob Fosse was casting the 1972 film version, Liza (who was now old enough!) was Kander and Ebb's first choice and this song became even more iconic thanks to her performance.

SONG #63

"I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair"

from South Pacific

Music by Richard Rodgers

Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

sung by Ensign Nellie Forbush & Nurses

Nellie Forbush was one of Oscar Hammerstein II's favorite characters to write.  For him, she was complex.  Her simple naivete was balanced by her struggle to be a better person (despite any flaws).  And they made her so talented (mostly to give original star Mary Martin boffo-socko Musical numbers!).  Everything she said and sang (thanks to Hammerstein's knack for idioms) sounded like typical phrases that were said back in Nellie's Arkansas hometown.  And some of those typical phrases have since become classic American colloquialisms, especially this song.  Every girl has tried to "wash that man right outta her hair!"

SONG #62

"Try To Remember"

from The Fantasticks

Music by Harvey Schmidt

Lyrics by Tom Jones

sung by El Gallo & Company

These days, with the economy the way it is, shows are lucky if they make it beyond a year.  The fact that The Phantom of the Opera celebrated it's 25th Anniversary on Broadway this year, is truly an anomaly.  Shows just don't run that long.  And Phantom doesn't even hold the New York record!  That honor belongs to the intimate Off-Broadway hit The Fantasticks, which ran for over 40 years from 1960 to 2002 in the small Greenwich Village Sullivan Street Playhouse.  This simple and sweet song, which opens the show, became an anthem for the Musical's longevity.  Anytime one hears it, they "try to remember!"

SONG #61

"Ease On Down the Road"

from The Wiz

Music & Lyrics by Charlie Smalls

sung by Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion & Company

How do you re-imagine a famed book that was already adapted into a highly successful and quite popular 1939 film?  How do you create a theme that runs through the show to get the audience's attention and their praise?  Producer Ken Harper made it his mission in the early 1970s to produce a new adaptation of the L. Frank Baum classic The Wizard of Oz, this time with an all-black cast and a completely funky and soulful soundtrack.  He asked R&B songwriter Charlie Smalls to provide most of the songs and the first song Smalls wrote was this instant classic.  While Judy Garland and Ray Bolger had "We're Off to See the Wizard!," this version had its characters "Easin' on down the Road!"

SONG #60

"All That Jazz"

from Chicago

Music by John Kander

Lyrics by Fred Ebb

sung by Velma Kelly & Company

Here we have yet another Kander and Ebb classic.  Chicago, which was a show conceived by the great Bob Fosse, was very much in the same vein as Cabaret was.  It was filled with seedy and debauched characters surrounded by glitz, glamour and jazzy tunes.  Fosse wanted the show to feel very much like a twisted vaudeville revue...a very twisted revue.  When choreographing this smash opening number, he told star Chita Rivera (and her subsequent replacement Carolyn Kirsch) that he wanted the character of Velma to walk around the stage like she is walking through a field of erect phallic symbols (sorry to be a bit graphic!).  That really does put a new spin on a number that is always a show-stopper in every production and even the movie!

SONG #59

"Let the Sunshine In"

from Hair

Music by Galt McDermott

Lyrics by James Rado & Gerome Ragni

sung by Sheila, Dionne & Company

The main purpose of Hair was to showcase the "hippie" lifestyle.  But with that lifestyle comes the poignant philosophy and peace-loving antics that the "hippies" wanted to share with everyone.  This song, which ends the show, became a massive hit with its soulful repetition of the title phrase as the on-stage hippies step out into the audience and ask them to join their giant sing-in. It was even successfully covered by the pop group the 5th Dimension when they paired it with one of Hair's other great hits (which you may see later in this list!).

SONG #58

"I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face"

from My Fair Lady

Music by Frederick Loewe

Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner

sung by Professor Henry Higgins

Henry Higgins has a lot of blustery solo numbers in Lerner and Loewe's masterpiece.  But most of those numbers are sung at someone (usually his addled friend Colonel Pickering!).  However, it is this final song that is Higgins' only soliloquy.  Throughout the entire show, he bristles at the show of pure emotion and he huffs and puffs against the little things Eliza does to change his daily routine.  But after she has left his house, it is only then that he has realized how much she has come to mean to him.  For a character like him to admit that he has "grown accustomed to her face," that is one of the most romantic things ever said in a Musical.

SONG #57

"76 Trombones"

from The Music Man

Music & Lyrics by Meredith Wilson

sung by Professor Harold Hill & Company

Just listening to the score of The Music Man and you feel transported to another time.  Every song sound like the "popular" music of the early 20th Century.  And of course, Meredith Wilson was heavily inspired by the classic band music that we all hear when the high school or college band performs at sporting events.  It is this song that gets the audience to marching along with the dancers on the stage.  When the song is reprised at the end of the show, the theatre is filled with a live marching band that the audience feels like there actually are "76 Trombones" blaring at them this catchy tune.

SONG #56

"Comedy Tonight"

from A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To the Forum

Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

sung by Pseudolus & Company

I already talked about this number almost a year ago when I did my 10 FAVORITES of the Greatest Broadway Opening Numbers and this song topped that list.  But just to re-hash, when this show was out of town in Washington DC, it was not going well.  Producer Harold Prince and director George Abbott brought in their friend Jerome Robbins to try to "fix" the show before it could open on Broadway.  And his immediate note was to change the opening number.  He told Stephen Sondheim to write a new song that basically told the audience what they were in for, and Sondheim was very concerned about writing a "funny" song.  Robbins then reassured him and said: "Don't worry about the jokes! Just write the song, I'll take care of the jokes!"  And the number became one of the most popular hits of the season.  Sondheim himself said, based on what Robbins did with the number: "You could have read the phone book afterwards and the audiences still would have been rolling in the aisles!"

Tomorrow, I will reveal 10 more of the Greatest Broadway Songs and we will dive right into the top 50 of our list (including two songs from the same show!!!).